Baron Pierre de Coubertin was a Frenchman. At his time sports were not taught in French schools. De Coubertin believed that sports should go hand in hand with studies. He had an idea. His idea was to begin the Olympics all over again.

    Sports teachers of other countries liked De Coubertin ideas. So in 1896, the modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece. Since then the Olympics have been held once every four years, except three times, when there were wars.

    The modern Olympic games have many foot races and field sports programs. The longest race in the games is called marathon.

    Before the start of the Olympic Games, runners carry lighted torch(火炬) through many nations towards the stadium where the games will be held. These sportsmen are from different countries. Yet they work together to carry the Olympic torch. It is passed from runner to runner,  When the last runner enters the stadium, he or she places the torch in a special basin filled with oil. It catches fire. It is then, only then, that the Olympic Games can begin.

    The Olympic flame burns throughout the games. It is the flame of peace.

1.Before 1896 French schools didn't teach ______.  

A. match                      B. history             C. sports                                  D. physics

2.Baron Pierre de Coubertin ________.

A. was the first man to start the Olympics                       

B. helped start the modern Olympics

C. believed that sports were less important than studies  

D. failed to began the modern Olympics

3.According to this passage, the third modern Olympics should have been held________.

A. 1914           B. 1904              C. 1896                           D. 1908

4.Marathon in the passage is________.

A. a foot race             B. a jumping contest    C. a field sport                  D. a boxing match

5.Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The Olympics do not begin until the basin of oil catches the fire.                                       

B. The torch is carried from runner to runner through many countries.

C. Runners who carry the torch can be men or women.                      

D. After the start of the Olympics, the Olympic flame is put out.

阅读理解．

　　The Winter Olympics is also called the White Olympics, which is held once every four years. At this time, many colorful stamps are published to mark the great Games. The first stamps marking the opening came out on January 25,1932 in the United States for the 3rd White Olympics. From then on, publishing stamps during the White Olympics became a rule.

　　During the 4th Winter Olympic Games a group of stamps were published in Germany in November 1936. The five rings of Olympics were drawn on the front of the sportswear. It was the first time that the rings speared on the stamps of the White Olympics.

　　In the 1950s, the stamps of this kind became more colorful. When the White Olympics came, the host countries as well as the non-host countries published stamps to mark those Games. China also published four stamps in February 1980, when the Chinese sportsmen began to take part in the White Olympics.

　　Japan is the only Asian country that has ever held the White Olympics. Altogether 14500 million stamps were sold to raise money for this sports meeting. Different kinds of sports were drawn on those small stamps. People can enjoy the beauty of the wonderful movements of some sportsmen.

1．The White Olympics and the Winter Olympics ________.

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2．The world made it a rule to publish stamps to nark the great world Games ________.

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A．after the year 1936

B．after the 3rd White Olympics

C．before the 3rd White Olympics

D．before the year 1932

3．The Winter Olympics is held once ________.

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4．Which of the following is true?

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A．Only the host countries can publish stamps to mark those Games.

B．Only the non-host countries can publish stamps to mark those Games.

C．All the countries can publish stamps to mark those Games.

D．Japan can't publish stamps to mark those Games.

5．What may appear on the stamps of the White Olympics?

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　　Olympia, a beautiful small town in the south of Greece, is well-known all over the world for its first holding Olympic Games in 776 BC.

　　At first, the Games were said to be national, and then it became international. Those except women who took part in the first Olympic Games held the games once every four years. This custom（习俗）lasted for about 1170 years, but stopped with the rules of. Rome in 394 AD.

　　In order to renew the spirit and thoughts shown in the ancient Greek Olympic Games, a Frenchman Gowbertin managed（设法）to start the games again. So the modern Olympic Games were held in 1896 to promote（促进）the international understanding through players. Nine nations took part in the Games. But this time they were held not in Olympia, but in Athens, Greece.

　　Since then the Olympia, have grown steadily（稳定地）with more and more nations and sportsmen and sportswomen taking part in the Games. Nowadays, the Games are held in different countries in turn. But because of the world wars the Games were not held in 1916, nor in the year 1940. They had been regularly（规则地）held ever since then.

(1) ________ can take part in the first Olympic Games.

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(2) How many years did the old Olympic Games last?

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(3) Where and when did the first modern Olympic Games take place?

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(4) How many Olympic Games have been held since 1896?

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　　Why is 2004 a special year? Because it is a Leap Year（闰年）! What's so special about that? Well, Leap Year happens only once every four years. And it has 366 days instead of the usual 365. In a Leap Year, we have 29 days in February, while in a usual year we have only 28 days.

　　Why do we have a Leap Year? We have a Leap Year so we can keep the calendar（日历）in step with the seasons. The calendar is a kind of clock for the whole year. But how long is a year? A calendar year is 365 days. However, a true year is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds long. That's the time it takes the earth to travel around the sun. So every four years we have one more day, and we put it at the end of February, the shortest month of a year. Then we have a Leap Year.

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A．There were 29 days in February. 1992.

B．Usually we have 365 days ill a year.

C．People who were born on February 29th are very lucky because they can have more birthdays than others.

D．The next Leap Year will be the year 2008.

Take this medicine ________.

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